Date of Award

2001

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

This study investigated the incidence of disordered eating and its relationship with acculturation, depression, and body dissatisfaction among Hispanic adolescent females. One hundred and five students enrolled at two midwestern high schools completed a Student Demographic Questionnaire, the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (Marin & Gamba, 1996), the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996), the Body Dissatisfaction Subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory (Garner, Olmstead, & Polivy, 1983), and the Eating Attitudes Test (Garner, Olmstead, Bohr, & Garfinkel, 1982). Two null hypotheses were examined. The first investigated the relationship among acculturation, depression, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating utilizing Pearson r . The second hypothesis examined the extent to which acculturation, depression, and body dissatisfaction predicted disordered eating utilizing stepwise multiple regression. Additionally, structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed using Bentler's (1995) EQS procedure to test a conceptual model. The model hypothesized that acculturation indirectly affects disordered eating. More specifically, it was thought that acculturation predicts depression, depression predicts body dissatisfaction, and body dissatisfaction predicts disordered eating. The results revealed that: (a) 18% of the total Hispanic adolescent females reported clinically significant eating concerns or weight preoccupations characteristic of eating disorders; (b) while there were significant relationships among depression, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating, acculturation was not significantly related to these constructs; (c) both depression and body dissatisfaction were significant predictors of disordered eating, whereas acculturation did not significantly predict disordered eating; and (d) the data fit the proposed conceptual model. Acculturation contributed to depression, depression predicted body dissatisfaction, and body dissatisfaction predicted disordered eating. Additionally, the relationship between depression and disordered eating was mediated by body dissatisfaction. Implications for counseling Hispanic adolescent females with disordered eating and body image issues, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

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